1949

YOSEMITE

Nature Notes XXVIII No.

NO. 10

Photo by Anderson Ranger Naturalist serving the public at Yosemite Museum information desk. Cover Photo: Cathedral Rocks, autumn tree, Yosemite Valley. By Ansel Adams from "Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada," text by John Muir, 64 photographs by Ansel Adams. Reproduction by kind permission of Houghton Mifflin Company.

THE MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF

THE Yosemite NATURALIST division AND

THE YOSEMITE NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION, INC.

C. P. Russell, Superintendent D. E. McHenry, Park Naturalist H. C. Parker, Assoc. Park Naturalist R. N. McIntyre, Asst. Park Naturalist

VOL. XXVIII OCTOBER, 1949 NO. 10 A MOONLIGHT HIKE TO HALF DOME

By Kathleen Barnes, Field School 1949 Somehow a hike made by moonlight, making the use of a light unnecessary light, even though the trail may be except in the more densely forested familiar by daylight, takes on the parts of the trail. qualities of a new experience. Just past the Vernal Falls bridge Therefore it was with keen expectation that I anticipated a proposed we first saw the lights from the Glacier Point Hotel high above. Farther moonlight hike to Half Dome. Ranger on, just below Panorama Cliffs a Naturalist Harold Perry, Supervisor rustling of bushes at the side of the of the Yosemite School of Field Nat- trail, brought all of the flashlights in ural History, led the Field School the crowd to play on the spot from group on the hike. which the sound came. There, The party consisting of Mr. Perry, caught in the beams of light stood 12 Field School members and 5 a mule deer doe. When the lights guests left Happy Isles at 11:30 p.m. were turned off she raced away Friday night July 15. The night was through the underbrush. quite warm, and although nearly The rest of the trail up to Nevada everyone wore a sweater as we Falls was uneventful and somewhat started up the trail it soon became quite apparent that it was un- tiring, and by the time we had necessary. The moon had not risen reached the falls everyone was as we began the hike, and had not ready for a rest and a drink of cold yet appeared when we reached the water. Vernal Falls bridge; as the trail was After we roasted at Nevada Falls quite dark, the group thought it best for a few minutes, we climbed up not to attempt the steps of the Mist and over the Little Yosemite terminal Trail, but went by way of the horse moraine, and dropped down into trail, which although one-half mile Little Yosemite Valley. Here the farther is not as difficult a climb. trail passes through dense lodgepole By day the trail seems compar- pine forest; however, as the trail is atively smooth and wide, but by very smooth and level we made moonlight, edges of large rocks im- excellent time for about 2 miles unbedded in the trail leap up to strike til the trail began to climb again by unsuspecting toes, and trees which way of a series of switch-backs, seem far off the trail by sunlight, near the old High Sierra Camp on seem definitely to have shifted posi- Sunrise Creek. tion to the center of the trail. From here on to the top of Half In spite of the obstructions in the Dome, except for a brief level por- path, most of the hiking was done tion, the trail climbs steadily, and without the aid of flashlights, and by it was now that the tiring aspects 12 :30 a.m. the moon had risen, of such a trip began to be felt.

We climbed without stopping un- not yet appeared over the eastern til we reached the place where the mountains, but in a few short min- next to the last water is located. Here utes the first bright rays appeared, we stopped and rested for the last and a few minutes later the sun time until we reached the base of shone brightly on the tops of the Half Dome. peaks. As we began the last portion of By 5 :00 a. m. the shadow of Half our climb, we saw that the stars Dome stood out clearly on Glacier were beginning to fade, and that Point, and the photographers in the a faint pink glow was appearing group were able to get the pictures in the east. Since one of the objects for which we had climbed 8 long of the trip was to see the shadow dark miles. of Half Dome on Glacier Point, vis- We then ate breakfast while view- ible just at sunrise, we pushed on ing some of the most beautiful scen- without further stops. ery in California. The view of the The trail up and over the Sub- valley laid out below you is quite sidiary Dome, which consists chiefly spectacular and thrilling. However, of flights of stone steps, is probably to me the most thrilling sight was the the most fatiguing part of the trail. view of the High Sierra to the east. Here a rope anchored to a gnarled After everyone had eaten the last Jeffrey Pine aids those who need the of the breakfast which he had help. brought, several of the group ex- At the base of Half Dome we made plored the top of the dome. Although our last rest stop at about 4:15 a. m. from the Valley the dome appears to Saturday morning. Here we ate be a smooth half sphere, in reality some of the lunch that we had pre- there are about 13 acres of compara- pared. The sky was definitely be- tively level granite on the summit. coming lighter, and the mountains Although some of the party were to the east were no longer silhou- energetic enough to walk around, ettes, but were beginning to show most of the group felt that now would real form. As it was getting rather be a fine time to catch up on lost late we again started on, beginning sleep. A new arrival would have the last and most treacherous part thought it very strange to see 12 or of the hike, the climb between the more bodies stretched out on the cables up the side of Half Dome. cold granite fast asleep. At 6 :15 a.m. the party started down the face of This is of course the most specta- Half Dome slowly to hike their way cular part of the entire trip. The home again. After climbing Half last 900 feet is made over a polished Dome the trip down to Happy Isles granite surface which rises at an by the same route seemed some- angle of about 45 degrees. For this what anticlimactic, and very hot as part of the climb one relies not only we had climbed up in the cool of the on the legs and feet to aid in the night. ascent, but also on arms and hands We arrived at Happy Isles at to help pull one up the smooth sur- 10 :30 a.m. tired, hot, dusty and face by holding on to the cables. By ready to consume several popsicles stopping frequently for short periods, apiece. It had taken us 11 hours to we made the top of the Dome by complete the trip, which although 4:45 a. m. tiring is one of the most satisfying We were in time. The sun had that I have ever made.

C. P. Russell Photo Ranger "Billy" Nelson, now retired holding big horn relics found on one of Yosemite's peaks.

MOUNTAIN SHEEP INCIDENT

By C. E. Crabtree, Ranger Naturalist 1947 Upon viewing the display of the Crabtree brothers to this hunting Mt. Lyell Mountain Sheep in the Yo- region. semite Museum discovered by Park Grandfather found that the flesh Naturalists Ed Beatty and Bert Har- of the Mountain Sheep was sweet well, I began to wonder about the and tender and the men relished it. Sierra bighorn. In going through the The largest number that his party files, I found that it is a distinctive ever killed was eighteen. Yet he re- species (Ovis canadensis sierrae) and that there are a few specimens left ported many bands with as many as 50 or 60 sheep in each. in the high Sierra. I wondered about the near extinc- The last sheep were killed in and tion of the Sierra bighorn. My grand about Crabtree Meadows in 1889. father, William Newton Crabtree This information is attested to by the and his brothers in the 1860's and son of William N. Crabtree, A. P. O. 1870 's after the summer work was Crabtree, father of the writer. The done and after equinoctial storms in United States Geological Survey has the Mt. Whitney area, would go to Placed on its maps the name Craba beautiful meadow at the base of tree Meadows. Mt. Whitney and establish head- One relic which dates from those quarters for their bighorn hunting ex- early days is a muzzle loading rifle pedition. This meadow located on which William Newton Crabtree the present Muir Trail became made and which still shoots accu- known as Crabtree Meadows to the rately. It is in the possession of M. L. hunters who later followed the Crabtree of Lindsay, California.

LIGHTNING STRIKES A TREE

By Ranger Naturalist Allen W. Waldo In June, 1949, the writer accompanied Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Hood on a trip to observe some glacial deposits. We went to the summit of the ridge nearly due south of Sentinel Dome and overlooking Illilouette Creek. Here the writer observed a large, rather isolated Jeffrey pine which obviously had very recently acted as a lightning rod. The evidence of this consisted of a white streak extending from the NPS Photo by Anderson Jeffrey Pines top to the base of the tree. This streak had been formed by the complete removal of all bark through the cambium layer. The bark had been blown from the tree in a band almost uniformly five inches wide but varying an inch or two either way at a few places. Big chunks of bark had been blown to distances of 25 or 30 feet from the tree. The fact that the lightning seems to have followed along the cambium layer is shown by the phenomenon that through the length of this gouge all bark was removed, but almost no wood of the inner tree was shattered. There was some shredding of the wood of the inner trunk into a few long, slender fibers, but never to a depth of over one-half inch. A few of these shreds hung out from the trunk. The path of the lightning down the trunk was also of interest. It came down from the top in a very slow spiral, turning toward the right of the observer, and continuing for a distance of about twenty feet. Then it started spiralling slowly in exactly the opposite direction until it reached the ground. There was no evidence of any melting of the mineral soil at the base of the tree. Whenever the lightning streak came directly above a branch, as it did several times, it bent around each such branch and continued its path downward directly below the branch. The branches were never shattered or broken in any way. It is quite clear that an injury of this kind need not be fatal to the tree, since there is a relatively narrow strip which needs to be healed. Most of the tree is still in a perfectly healthy condition.

Another interesting observation dug. Stones six inches to a foot in concerning the action of lightning diameter were thrown for consider- was made by a group of four fish- able distances, and dirt, soil and ermen who were along the Gaylor smaller rocks were thrown forty feet Lakes on the afternoon of July 13, or more into the air. One man, who 1949. They had fished down from was standing, was knocked to the Middle to Lower Gaylor when it be- ground and rolled over. The others, came evident that a storm was near- who were seated in wet clothes and ly upon them. who wore rubber soled shoes, no- The four men stopped fishing and ticed a tingling in their heels for a came together near a group of large considerable time following the boulders in the open meadow. One strike. They felt nothing else. There of the men went to the other side of was almost instantly a strong odor a large boulder and washed his feet described as smelling like sulfur di- in a small stream before joining the oxide and followed immediately by rest of the group. He had barely an odor which smelled like a pow- seated himself with the others when der blast. The latter was probably lightning struck in the meadow just ozone, but the writer does not under- the other side of the boulder from stand any reason for the first odor. the group and where the fourth man All four men barely missed a di- had previously been seated while rect strike, and one had just moved washing his feet. This was within in the nick of time. There seems to 25 or 30 feet of the group. be no evidence to show why the According to the men there was lightning should have struck at this no visible flash. There was a tre- particular place in the open mead- mendous roaring noise with the ow. The men do not believe that the strike. The ground was dug out in a large boulders stood enough above group of furrows spreading out in all the general level to attract the elec- directions, like crooked spokes, from tric discharge. The boulders were the point of impact. A line of holes none of them struck, and no melting like those of a ground squirrel were of the soil was observed.

FALLEN MONARCHS OF 1949

By James W. McFarland, Ranger Naturalist Two more giant sequoias fell in fell underneath, while the still living the spring of 1949. However, one of larger one broke over its fallen part- these great trees was already dead. ner, exposing a jagged cross section It had been killed by a bolt of light- of red wood. This wood, bright pink ning which topped it just a hundred when newly broken, will turn to a feet above its base.' For perhaps 50 velvety red and finally to black, a years it had stood there, propped up result of oxidation, on exposure to by another giant, injured, but not the air of the red gum which impreg- killed by the same bolt of lightning. nates the heartwood. Located across Finally, on April 19, the pull of the road from the Telescope Tree, gravity forced them down, tearing they are an interesting exhibit to up their great roots. The dead tree visitors. 1. Death of a Giant Sequoia, Yosemite Nature Notes, January 1949, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp 2-4.

ANIMAL SIGNS

By Ranger Naturalist George C. Turner, Jr. The natural inquisitiveness of the These facts may be immediately general public toward the numerous detected : He is both a tree and a animals which they may encounter ground dweller, and an eater of while in our National Parks has led plant food. to the publication of many articles Upon finishing the snack it may on how to recognize these creatures be observed that his departure was when they are seen. Unfortunately, composed of a combination of a few most animals will have eluded their alternate steps and a number of observer before identification is paired bounds. The tracks thus left made possible. Thus, the need of show us that this animal displays supplementing sight recognition with both the tree dweller habit of pair that of sign recognition has prompted ing the fore and hind feet in a series this article. of bounds, and the ground dweller Tracks, scats, hair, homes, and characteristic of alternating fore and tooth and claw marks are some of hind feet while walking. the more obvious "calling cards " left by animals. Although published Closer inspection of the individual studies in each of these categories footprints would show us that each are available it is far more gratify of the forefeet leave only four toe ing for the would-be naturalist to marks while those of the hind feet make his own observations. display five distinct marks. A superabundance of patience, If the item on which he was gnaw- time and ability to observe are the ing is recovered we may notice that first ingredients necessary for such the tooth marks indicate a needle- a study. A faculty to detect excel- sharp set of incisors. These finely lently camouflaged dens or perceive pointed teeth leave scratch-like minute movements which may give marks on the foodstuffs, i.e. acorns, away an animal ' s presence, all go pine-nuts, conifer bud clippings, etc. into the requirements of the observer. These marks differ from the beaver- Thus, the best information is ob- like results which mice leave on tained if the animal can be observed seedlings, or the neatly cut stubs in the process of making these signs. left by rabbits (Pearce). Preliminary information on habits Then perhaps if the particular and habitats of the various crea- point of ascent on a tree is noticed tures one is apt to meet should be we may be fortunate in recovering thoroughly investigated. a few hairs from his fur left on the A method of procedure in this new rough bark. A general observation of adventure may commence with ob- these hairs would indicate their nervations on the activities of a com- grayish coloration and general mon mammal such as the California length. If a more absolute identifica- Gray Squirrel (Sciurus griseus). This tion is desired the collector is re- chubby little fellow may be seen ferred to various detailed micro- hopping about the limbs of a nearby scopic studies (Mathias and Bacho- ak or pine tree on the floor of Yosemite Valley, or perhaps twenty rac feet away on the ground munching If your eyes are sharp a close on some tidbit. scrutiny of the immediate vicinity

may disclose a number of closely grouped pellets or scats. These small, slightly tear-shaped fecal outputs (½ x ¾ inches) are sometimes the only evidence available as to the relative abundance of this animal in an area. Next to tracks, scats are by far the most abundant evidence in the field of any resident or transient animal. Unfortunately, few studies are available on this particular phase of animal identification (Seton). Constant vigilance may reward the observer by disclosing the well camouflaged home of our subject. The nest is usually situated high in the uppermost branches of a tree. Its general appearance is that of a large, leaf-covered bird 's nest with the addition of a roof (Storer). Thus we see the application of these various studies as they may be related to one animal. The vast field which lies ahead for the interested observer is unlimited in its Anderson Photo scope. The article submitted here has been necessarily short due to the very nature of this publication. It is hoped, however, that some stimulation has been effected in those readers who desire adventure into a relatively undeveloped field of natural history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bachrach, Max 1936. Fur. Prentice--Hall, N. Y. Cahalane, V. H. 1947. Mammals of North America. MacMillan Co., N. Y. Grinnell, J., Dixon, J. S., and Linsdale, J. M. 1937. Furbearing mammals of California. Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, Calif. Grinnell, J., and T. Storer. 1924. Animal Life in the Yosemite. Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, Calif. Jaeger, E. C. 1948. Tracking and Trailcraft. MacMillan Co., N. Y. Mason, G. F. 1943. Animal Tracks. William Morrow and Co., N. Y. Mathias, H. A. 1938. A rapid method of cross sectioning mammalian hairs. Journ. Wildl. Mgt. 2(3):162. Pearce, J. 1938. Identifying tooth marks of some northeastern animals on forest vegetation. Trans. of North Amer. Wldl. Conf. 3:134-138. Seton, E. T. 1925. On the study of scatology. Journ. Mamm. 6:45-49. 1929. Lives of game animals. 4 vols. Doubleday, Doran and Co. Garden City, N. Y. Storer, T. I. 1943. General zoology. McGraw-Hill Co., N. Y.

THE OYSTER SHELL EPIDEMIC

By Richard G. Lillard, Ranger Naturalist Oyster shell scale (Lepidosaphes ulmi) remains a major force in the destruction of shrubs and trees in Yosemite National Park. This Asiatic pest, now world wide in distribution, entered New England in 1794; reached the Mississippi River by 1860; got into Yosemite sometime later, and was described in 1928 by E. O. Essig of the University of California, after it had caused conspicuous damage to many species including willows and the black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) on the Valley floor. For two decades ghost groves of cottonwood snags have been a feature of the Valley and of the Mirror Lake delta. The dead trees are beginning to fall down. Scattered survivors bear dead tops and limbs and also patches of lush seasonal growth. Only in new areas of disturbance, like the Wildflower Garden, or in isolated instances such as far back in Camp 19 or in alcoves on Sunnyside Bench, are there thriving individuals free from dead limbs. The scale continues locally to infest bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), alder (Alnus rhombifolia), and other woody plants. The red-buds (Cercis occidentalis) near the Yosemite Museum doors were first reported in 1945 as subject to attack. They are newly infested but show no signs yet of ill effect. Old clumps of lilac (Syringa vulgaris) west of the church Photo by Anderson in the Old Village have been partly killed back. The insect is killing willows in other watersheds of the park, as at Wawona Meadows, where the field school of 1948 observed the dams of the golden beaver (Castor canadensis subaurotus). Emil Ernst, park forester, reports the killing of willows in Empire Meadows. Frank Patty, forester for the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, reports that the scale is killing Ceanothus along the Chowchilla Peak road just outside the park.

Digitized by Yosemite Online Library Dan Anderson